In A Stone in Heaven, Dominic Flandry finds friendship, maybe even love, after many years of being totally alone. After A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows, Flandry’s life stood in ruins. His Emperor, unbeknownst to him at the time, was dead; his sons were incompetent. His love was dead; his son was dead; he didn’t believe in his job any longer, and he’d taken out his biggest adversary. So, what was left? This book shows the answer: plenty. The younger son of Hans Molitor now holds the throne in his incompetent grasp, and worse, does not like Flandry. So, although Flandry is now a Vice-Admiral and commands much respect, he isn’t thrown too many assignments. On the other hand, he is able to make his own schedule, so when Miriam Abrams, daughter of mentor Max Abrams (his superior in Ensign Flandry), manages to get to him to point out a major problem on Ramnau, he leaves. Once again, he finds intrigue and lots of it, problems, and pain. But unlike A Knight of Ghost and Shadows, Flandry…

Parts of this book were published before 1965 as separate titles.
1. Tiger by the Tail (1951)
2. The Warriors from Nowhere (1954)
3. Honorable Enemies (1951)
4. Hunters of the SkyCave, also known as A Handful of Stars and We Claim these Stars (1960)
Flandry, here a captain, undergoes a series of adventures: He is abducted by the Scothians, an alien race hoping to invade the Terran Empire; rescues the Emperor’s kidnapped granddaughter; meets Aycharaych, his nemesis in league with the Merseians; and investigates a previously unencountered alien race that has invaded the distant colonial world of Vixen.

After the first flowering of the Terran Empire, which has grown increasingly decadent and corrupt, other civilizations in the galaxy threaten to take over the Terran's worlds. In this scenario steps the debonair, tough and pessimistic Dominic Flandry, half-Hans Solo, half-James Bond and a hero for the ages!